The plan was announced Friday by Professor Dame Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, as she accompanied British Prime Minister Theresa May on her visit to China.

The new campus of XJTLU, a partnership between China's Xi'an Jiaotong University and the University of Liverpool, will be constructed in Taicang City, not far from the school's base in Suzhou City, also in Jiangsu.

The Taicang campus is expected to open in 2020 and grow to have a community of 6,000 students by 2025.

The campus will foster graduates in science and technology with expertise in AI and robotics. It will provide opportunities for students to work with and within the city's expanding industrial base.

Founded in 2006, XJTLU has more than 12,000 students and over 1,000 faculty members. It hopes to have 24,000 students by 2028.